We read and revel about the women in history who conquered barriers, spoke out loud on their beliefs, fought enemies with grace and intelligence everyday. I bet they weren’t sitting on the couch thinking about what they were going to do. We never read about that. Because it didn’t exist, couches were not part of the furniture in homes of the early days. If you sat on the “couch” all day, first you would be naked, there would be no food, no water, no candles to light so you could see, or blankets to cover you from the cold seeping through the walls. Before outsourced manufacturing they had to make every single item needed to survive. Think about taking a week to do one load of laundry…

It seems in today’s world you only hear about women doing such above matters AFTER they have hit the bottom. This disturbs me. Why do we have to hit the bottom in order to get to the top? To appreciate what we have, to challenge our inner strength? Are A-type personalities the only ones who achieve success without hitting the bottom? That could be a debatable question that will never be answered. Hard work and determination is how one achieves success. The cliché although notable came from all women we admire in history. Life was hard in the 1600s, it took the determination to survive. The New World in 1620, there was not a top to be at. Everyone started at the bottom and built the foundations we take for granted today. The bottom in the New World was death. Not something to strive for to find out how to succeed.

Through education we become empowered to succeed. You have to hold a degree in order to gain recognition for success. If you don’t, no one will take you as credible or knowledgeable in what your talking about. So how did all the noted women in history before the 1800s become so successful? Before 1818 women were not allowed to attend college, they were not allowed to achieve degrees.Yet so many of them were well educated. How did that happen? Because they didn’t accept the answer no? Well it’s not that they’re just women, they’re human. Humans have the nature ability to learn. Its the instinct for survival that exists in everyone.

Women continue to make remarkable achievements. Women getting degrees continues to rise close to 60% since the 1970s. It’s no longer an issue for women to apply for college and get a college degree. Now it’s more the question, why don’t you have one? With the creation of our online society, availability for a degree is attainable for anyone.

We have to give thanks to a few notable women; Deborah Sampson (my number one gal) who was the first woman to fight in a war and receive a pension for doing so. Lucy Stone who in 1847 was one of the first women in the United States to receive a college degree. Abigail Adams for her countless achievements to gain recognition and famously known for her letter writing to the congressional powers that be to “not forget about the ladies”. The list is large and never ending and that is empowerment to achieve my own success.

I don’t write about women in history because I think we’re better than men and I have some sort of statement to make. I write about women in history for their determination and dedication to themselves. The inner strength that exists in all of us. Before salaries and lifestyle status were what made you successful, women strived for success to satisfy themselves in knowing they have what it takes to live. To live a life fulfilled with self satisfaction that we can and do well in all that we strive for.

I continue to research and write about women in history out of curiosity and admiration. The curiosity in how they could gain education then and the admiration for them today when they had no readily available resources. They created them for us. They set the foundation for the path women walk on each and everyday.